Sarge
by suzie2b
Summary: Troy needs some advise.
**Disclaimer:** _ **The Rat Patrol**_ **is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.**

 **Author's note: This is for the one only known as Guest, who asked for a "vulnerable, needy side of Troy." Hope this works for you. Enjoy.**

 **Sarge**

 **By Suzie2b**

 **Moffitt and Tully walked into the mess hall to meet up with their other two team members. However, what they found was Troy, with a morose look on his face, at one table and Hitch at another, looking positively hurt. They looked at each other, then back at their friends.**

 **Tully sat down with Hitch and Moffitt stood next to him. Tully asked, "What's goin' on?"**

 **Hitch shrugged. "Don't know. I went to sit with him like usual and he told me to go away."**

 **Moffitt went over and sat down with Troy. "What's wrong, Troy?"**

 **He wouldn't look at his fellow sergeant. "Nothing."**

" **Well, something has obviously happened. You don't normally tell Hitch to 'go away.' Talking about it might help." When there was no forthcoming explanation, he continued, "You came in late last night stumbling drunk. Then left our quarters before sun up. Something's going on…"**

 **Troy frowned when he finally looked at Moffitt and nearly growled, "It's nothing." Then he stood up. "We'd better get going." As they passed the table where Hitch and Tully still sat, Troy didn't look at them as he said, "Let's go."**

 **The two privates looked at Moffitt, but only got a shrug from him.**

 **############################**

 **Two jeeps sped across empty desert. The Rat Patrol's assignment was to do recon in a sector where spotter planes had reported seeing German patrols. As the day wore on, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully worried about Troy's sullen silence and preoccupation. He only spoke when giving orders or tersely answering questions about their assignment.**

 **Around two o'clock that afternoon they stopped for a break and to check the map. Troy tossed Tully a canteen and said, "Go up and keep your eyes open."**

 **Tully nodded. "Right, sarge."**

 **Troy watched him take the canteen and grab binoculars before climbing up among the rocks. Then he joined Moffitt where he had a map opened on the hood of the jeep.**

 **Moffitt pointed to a spot on the map with a pencil and said, "We're right in this area. On the west edge of the sector. Perhaps we should…" He noticed that Troy wasn't listening. He just stared at Tully. Moffitt followed Troy's line of sight, then put the pencil down. "All right, Troy. Enough is enough. Tell me what's going on."**

 **Troy sighed and glanced at his friend. He hesitated before he finally said, "Diane and I broke up yesterday."**

" **Oh? What happened? You two seemed to be quite happy together these past few months."**

" **I thought we were too. But she said she wasn't getting enough from our relationship … whatever that means. Diane's the first girl I ever thought about getting serious with. I can't figure out what I did wrong."**

 **Moffitt said sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Troy. No wonder you're having a bad day."**

 **Troy again looked up at Tully. "How does he do it?"**

 **Moffitt glanced at Tully. "How does he do what?"**

" **How does he make it work with Charley?"**

 **Moffitt smiled. "Why don't you go ask him?"**

 **Troy looked at his fellow sergeant and nodded. "Yeah … yeah. I think I will." He climbed up and sat down next to Tully. "Mind if I join you?"**

 **Tully smiled as he continued to stare out at the desert. "Not at all, sarge." Troy rubbed his palms on his knees and Tully asked quietly, "What's on your mind?"**

 **Troy shook his head, a hint of a smile on his face. Tully always knew when someone needed to talk. "Diane and I broke up yesterday."**

 **Tully looked at him. "I'm real sorry to hear that. Can I ask what happened?"**

 **Troy shrugged. "I don't know. She just said she wasn't getting enough from our relationship."**

" **What did you say?"**

" **I was so shocked I didn't say anything. She walked away and I went and got drunk." Tully chuckled and Troy continued. "I thought our relationship was going someplace special … serious."**

 **Tully said, "Maybe that's what it was. She might've got scared. Afraid of getting too close too fast."**

 **Troy's eyebrows went up. "Huh … didn't think about that." He hesitated, then said, "I want to ask you something."**

" **Go right ahead."**

" **How do you and Charley keep your relationship going out here?"**

 **Tully put the binoculars down and looked at the sergeant with a slight smile. "We work at it. It's not always easy. We have occasional arguments … but we always make up before we separate for the day. I don't know what I'd do if she didn't come back and the last thing we said to each other were angry words. Sure, we spend too much time away from each other, that can't be helped out here, but Charley and I spend as much quality time together as we can. Even if it means sittin' on the bed reading and holding hands." He could see the thoughts swirling around in Troy's brain by the look on his face. "Look, sarge, if you want a serious relationship with Diane, you have to take it seriously. The words 'I love you' have to come easily, often, and you have to mean it. You have to be ready to fight for it, because there's plenty of competition out there. I got lucky. Charley picked me over all the guys on base."**

 **Troy let the words sink in as Tully went back to looking through the binoculars. "I think I get it now. Thanks, Tully. I'm glad we had this talk."**

 **Tully said, "That's good, sarge, because we've got company coming."**

 **############################**

 **The German scout column was taken by surprise when the jeeps flew over the dune with 50 calibers blazing. However, they weren't giving up without a fight. By the time it was over, the single halftrack that had survived was limping back to where it came from.**

 **When Hitch and Tully stopped the jeeps to check for damage, Hitch discovered that Troy had been hit in the thigh. As Tully helped him get the sergeant out of the jeep, Hitch said, "Easy does it, sarge. Keep your weight off it."**

 **Moffitt grabbed a med kit and canteen. As he knelt next to Troy, he said, "Tully … Hitch, keep a look out. We're in the open here."**

 **In unison, the two privates said, "Right, sarge." Then they scrambled into the back of the jeeps and stationed themselves looking in opposite directions.**

 **Troy grimaced as Moffitt tore his pant leg open and used gauze to press on the wound. "We can't stay here."**

 **Moffitt looked at him and said, "Just long enough to get the bleeding under control." He smiled slightly. "How was your talk with Tully?"**

 **Troy pulled his belt off and was tightening it around his leg as he said, "Enlightening. I've always known that Tully's a smart guy … I just never realized how smart."**

" **So, he helped you out of your sullen mood?"**

 **Troy managed to smile through the pain. "Yeah, he sure did." He looked up at Hitch and said, "Sorry I snapped at you this morning."**

 **Hitch smiled, but didn't take his eyes off the horizon. "Moffitt told me what happened. Glad to hear Tully was able to help you out."**

 **Moffitt secured a bandage around Troy's leg. "I think we can move you now. The bleeding's stopped, which means the bullet missed the artery. Hitch, give me a hand with him." They got Troy into the passenger seat and Moffitt prepared a shot of morphine. "This should take the edge off for the trip back to base."**

 **############################**

 **At the base hospital in Ras Tanura, Troy was taken in for surgery as Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully waited. Word got around quickly and it wasn't long before Charley showed up. Tully put an arm around her as she asked, "How is he?"**

 **Moffitt smiled. "The bullet missed the artery. He's going to be laid up for a while, but he'll be fine."**

" **Want me to go find Diane?"**

 **Tully said, "Why don't we hold off on that. She and Troy broke up."**

 **Charley frowned. "Oh no!"**

" **You got word pretty quickly, so let's give her a chance to make up her mind about coming."**

 **Later, after Troy had been out of surgery for a while, a timid looking Diane walked into the ward. She looked around and easily found Troy among the few patients in the ward. Diane sat down on the chair that was next to his cot and watched him sleep for a few minutes. Then she took his hand and whispered, "I'm sorry, Sam."**

 **Without opening his eyes, Troy said, "For what?"**

" **For being stupid."**

 **Troy opened his eyes and closed his hand around hers. "You're not stupid, Diane. I shouldn't have let you walk away. I made my guys miserable because I couldn't get my head around what had happened between us."**

 **Diane said quietly, "When I heard you'd been shot, I wanted to come right away … but I didn't know if you'd want me here."**

" **I'm glad you didn't stay away."**

" **I guess we need to talk. Figure out what we really want."**

 **Troy smiled and nodded. "Since I'm going to be a captive audience for a while. We'll have time for that. I don't want to give up on us just yet."**

 **Charley and Tully walked in, but saw Diane and hung back near the door to watch. They went unnoticed and Tully whispered, "Say it, sarge. Say it and mean it."**

 **Charley looked up at him and whispered, "Say what?"**

 **Tully saw Troy's mouth form the words and he grinned as he looked into Charley's eyes. "I love you."**

 **############################**

 **The next day, Tully stopped by to check on Troy. Luckily he was alone. "Hi, Sarge. How're you feeling?"**

 **Troy smiled. "Not too bad. They're going to get me up on crutches tomorrow." Tully made a face as he sat down and Troy chuckled. "Unlike you, I don't have an aversion to using crutches."**

" **Saw Diane here yesterday. Have you two been able to talk?"**

" **Yeah, some yesterday and some earlier today. We've decided to take things slow. Neither of us are ready for marriage. We're just going to enjoy being together."**

 **Tully grinned. "Sounds like you've got things under control."**

 **Troy sighed. "I hope I never feel like that again."**

" **Like what?"**

" **Vulnerable … needy … lost. I'm just glad I didn't get any of you killed because of my little preoccupation."**

 **Tully shook his head. "Wouldn't have happened, sarge. We look out for each other."**


End file.
